I began my morning at 7 am.  Yes, you read that correctly.  I voluntarily set the alarm for 7 am to get stuff done today.  I mean, when you have coffee mugs as adorable as this one, it's almost a crime not to use them bright and early, right?  I thought so.  Plus, as I learned today, you can get so much done before noon!  It was quite a revelation for me. 

First up, the downtown farmer's market.  I have said before that I love the Austin skyline.  I also delight in the fact that we can have a farmer's market in a park in the middle of the city and enjoy the skyline just feet away. 

In addition to all the fabulous produce available, the vendors also sold some other products, including these colorful ceramics that I just had to take pictures of: 

and the colors didn't stop there: 

Seriously, it took major will power not to want to buy everything there.  Just for the color.  I loved it. 

I was headed back to the parking garage when I passed this trailer.  Among the many reasons I love Austin is the fact that this city is obsessed with serving food in trailers.  What might be seen as less-sophisticated at best in another town is an opportunity to serve gourmet delicacies here while maintaining mobility.  This trailer happened to be serving Texas Czech cuisine, whatever that may be.  (Shoutout to Svajda, my favorite Czech.) 

I ended up buying a few pounds of produce and two herb plants.  Cilantro, obviously, and a basil plant whose smell I could not resist.  Because I'm me, I like to name everything.  The name Thomas came to mind immediately.  Upon arriving home, my roommate Kristin advised that the taller one (the basil) seemed like a Thomas.  She then added that the other one should be named Gerald.  I love old man names, so I was sold before she could explain further: "I was thinking they could be like Tom and Jerry."  Perfect.  

Meet Thomas (on the right) and Gerald (on the left), Tom and Gerry for short: 

In between my purchasing of these fellas, I swung by the library to pick up a library card.  Not even 10:30 am and I already crossed two things off the list!  

Feeling crazy productive and anticipating the forthcoming evening, I knew I needed to workout.  Donnie let me talk him into doing the 30 Day Shred workout.  The only problem?  I didn't have weights for him to use.  Kristin swooped in with the perfect solution: 

Still baffled at all the things I had accomplished before my usual Saturday wake up time, I joined some friends of mine to celebrate Sarah's birthday.  We hopped in the car and drove to Driftwood, TX, to visit the Duchman Winery. 

I have so missed seeing these wonderful girls.  The birthday girl is in the center.  Sadly, we enlisted our server Slick Willie to take the picture, so we forgot to take a picture of him for posterity's sake.  I'll just say that he provided some fantastic entertainment while we were there.  We also took a "tour" of the winery, which mostly consisted of walking down two hallways to look through the windows at the different production rooms.  Our guide did explain a lot of cool details about the wine production, but I had hoped to frolic through the vineyards.  

Seriously, though, if anyone knows of a bachelor who wants help frolicking through vineyards, send him my way!

For our last stop on the tour, we drove down the road to the infamous Salt Lick Barbecue.  I have lived in Austin for two years without ever experiencing it firsthand, but hearing constantly about its greatness makes it feel like old hat.  (I'm not kidding, the pastor two weeks ago at church spent a tangent discussing the "gospel of Salt Lick.")  Sarah talked me into getting the sausage along with brisket... perhaps one of the best pieces of advice I've received in my lifetime.  

It was delicious, and I hate too much of it.  

Let me know if you want to do some 30 Day Shred tomorrow!